A 2014 M3 test prototype resumed testing at the Nurburgring yesterday and the strip tease continued by way of a possible (or intended) camouflage malfunction. Here’s what we see.

Air Curtains

By coincidence (?), the passenger side lower front bumper camouflage was flapped open during the test runs, revealing and confirming the air curtain vents on the F80. Whether the camouflage was peeled back to feed air to the air curtains for testing purposes, resulted from a camouflage malfunction, or was purposely peeled back to tease us, matters not. What’s important is that we get the first clear look at the air curtain vent, which appears very large judging by the amount of space between the air curtain vent outline and the outer edge of the still camouflaged … CONTINUED

The manual transmission for the BMW M5 is not extinct just yet. The North American market receives a manual transmission option for the 2013 F10 M5 and an M5POST members is one of the first to have an opportunity to test out the manual M5. He has published his review for us, together with video of the 6MT shifting action. Read on inside…

The M5 recently made its return to Nurburgring taxi duty while taking on a different and newer form - the F10 M5. We previously posted footage of the M5 taxis running around the ‘Ring,’ but here’s in-car footage from a one lap run around the track. Check out the cool superimposed track map, speed, and G-force displays.

The taxi ride was a gift from a son for his dad’s 65th birthday and the driver was Walter Haup, an M5 taxi driver and instructor for M driver training programs.

The lap time isn’t nearly what the F10 M5 is capable of as the point of M5 taxi rides is not to achieve the best time possible, but the fastest Nurburgring lap time officially listed for the F10M is 7:55 … CONTINUED

Many of you requested to see a white version of our latest F80 M3 renders, so by popular demand, we’ve added a couple of white versions to the batch.

If you’ve been tracking our homepage or our M3 forum section, you’ve surely seen the flurry of F80 M3 test mule sightings in the past two weeks or so.

Not only have the sightings become more frequent, but they’ve also been more revealing. With the latest rounds of spy photos, we now have a fairly good idea of what to expect from the 2014 M3 sedan’s front end styling.

The F80 will feature a hood bump and a very aggressive front bumper/apron with a what looks to be a mix of elements from the M6 and 1M’s styling - M6 … CONTINUED

The 2014 F80 M3 prototype continues hot climate testing in Spain and we continue getting more live looks and listen at the next generation M3 sedan.

Our new video provides a good listen at the M3 prototype accelerating from a stop, though it’s obviously not a full out acceleration run. For full throttle acceleration at speed, see the previously posted M3 and M4 prototype videos from Nurburgring testing, copied below. We also hear the car’s startup for the first time. One thing’s for sure - there will be no lack of baritone and bass sounds coming from the F80’s exhaust. Its hearty burble is heard throughout the clip.

The F80’s ride and suspension looks planted, with little body roll and suspension travel (check out how stiff the suspension … CONTINUED

The very first M3 M Performance Edition produced has been sighted. Seen in the UK recently was this Frozen Japan Red M3. Just 30 of these M3 M Performance Edition models were ever made and this was the very first of the 30 to be produced. This special edition M3 was offered exclusively for the UK market at a price of £74,080.

The M3 M Performance Edition was announced in May, together with the M5 M Performance Edition.

Showcasing BMW Individual, these M Performance Editions brought three new Frozen paint colors to the UK for the first time - BMW Individual Japan Red with a Frozen Red wrap, BMW Individual Frozen White and BMW Individual Frozen Blue.

All M3 M Performance Editions come with extended Black Novillo leather upholstery, … CONTINUED

Site member Palbay spotted the new F13 M6 Coupe in Sakhir Orange with M Carbon Ceramic Brakes at the BMW Performance Center in Spartanburg, SC. Posing next to it was a Monte Carlo Blue M5 for a good visual comparison of the two cars.

Here are the physical stats compared between the M6 coupe and M5 sedan.

Height:
M6 - 1374 mm
M5 - 1451 mm (3.03 inches higher than M6 coupe)

Width:
M6 - 2106 mm (to side mirrors)
M5 - 2119 mm (to side mirrors) (0.51 inches wider than M6 coupe)

Length:
M6 - 4898 mm
M5 - 4910 mm (0.47 inches longer than M6 coupe)

Wheelbase:
M6 - 2851 mm
M5 - 2964 mm (4.44 inches longer than M6 coupe)

Weight (unladen (DIN/EU)):
M6 - 1850kg / 1925kg (4078 lb / 4243 lb)
M5 - 1870kg / 1945kg … CONTINUED

Our resident artist Jerry (E92Alpine328i) has come up with another predictive render of the 2014 F80 M3 sedan, based on recent spy photos. This look is very similar to the first renders from last week, but features slightly less aggressive front apron air vents.

The turbo inline 6 powered F80 M3 will hit the market in 2014.

Follow our past and future M3/M4 coverage @ http://www.bimmerpost.com/m3/f30m3/

If you’ve been tracking our homepage or this M3 section, you’ve surely seen the flurry of F80 M3 test mule sightings in the past week or so [spy pics].

Not only have the sightings become more frequent, but they’ve also been more revealing. With the latest rounds of spy photos, we now have a fairly good idea of what to expect from the 2014 M3 sedan’s front end styling.

The F80 will feature a hood bump and a very aggressive front bumper/apron with a what looks to be a mix of elements from the M6 and 1M’s styling - M6 style air vents with fins at the top and an upwardly angled top line, potentially paired with 1M styled air curtain vent styling and position.

We also added double-slat … CONTINUED